Broken
by Qwara
Summary: Oneshot. 'I could not number the foolish twerps who thought it fit to try to enslave me...I already had a master, and its name was Duty.'


_Whoo, haven't written any proper Pokémon fanfiction in a long while! I'd love to know what you think of my first Pokémon one-shot; not really anything I had planned out, just a random brain-fart, I s'pose. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated; so pull out your pens (or keyboards, or whatever), and write me a review!_

**Broken**  
_**by Qwara**_

I slowly opened my eyes, still nestled in the tall grass which enveloped me; the blades tickling my long, curled tail as I stumbled to my feet. As my grogginess faded, I became more aware of my surroundings, besides the soft caress of the grass. I was surprised to see the landscape still bathed in darkness, with the only light from the full, pale moon in the sky, and the horizon dotted with distant stars. I then discovered what had been the cause of my waking; the sound of fast, loud conversation nearby: and as I flicked my ears and listened more carefully, I heard the intonations which suggested anxiety and desperation.

My juvenile mind had deduced at this point that something was wrong, and I was now blindly stumbling through the grass, with this incessant speaking as my only guide; and as the voices swelled and sounded ever more frantic, I hastened my speed, driven by a sense that I could somehow relieve my kinsmen's suffering (at least, this is what I tell myself now what motivated me; though it could have been perhaps out of a morbid curiosity).

At last the final blades of grass parted, opening into the mossy bank near the little creek which ran through our meadow (I call it 'ours', for it is the only way I can distinguish it from any other meadow). The trickle of flowing water now accompanied those sounds which had roused me from my sleep, and which had excited my curiosity; and, being able to see much more easily without the grass nuzzling my head, I distinguished two silhouettes standing not very far from me.

I bounded up to them, though they did not notice me; they were too much engrossed in their undoubtedly invigorating discussion. I sat down on my haunches near them, and as my eyes adjusted to the lighting, and as I was able to distinguish actual words and phrases, I immediately knew the two chatterers to be my parents.

"It cannot be; it cannot be! Dear little Annabelle!—it is too cruel; you tease me most cruelly," came the shrill voice of my mother, as she tapped her foot nervously, and twitched and trembled unabatedly.

"I tease you not!" was the authoritative, grave reply in the deep intonations of my father; "I saw the Spearow carry her off myself; and our poor darling's helpless cries frightened me to my very soul. I do not understand what they could want with her—so young!—but I only hope that they will return her to us, in due time…"

Here my mother thought it prudent to interrupt my father's too sanguine expectations.

"What could they want with her?—why, Arthur, only one thing! They will eat my poor Annabelle, I am sure! Return her! Nonsense, nonsense; they shall consider us indebted to them if they even bring back her bones. Oh: Annabelle, Annabelle!"

Annabelle was my dear younger sister; of course, I had twenty siblings in all, but this did not make little Anna one jot less precious to me. She was my play-mate; the same blood that ran through my veins ran through hers! And it seemed, by my parents' exclamations, that there was nothing to do, but to tolerate it and mourn her inevitable death. But I, restless as I was with being forbidden to leave our meadow, could not be satisfied with such a prospect. I was reckless and young, and my heart swelled in indignation at the thought of the lusty, craven Spearow, and filled with love for poor, kidnapped Anna.

Without a second thought, I stole across the meadow at the best sprint I could manage, leaping over what things I could, and wildly bounding round those I couldn't. I was determined to save little Anna; I could not give up hope so easily as my mother did. I would fight for her; I was perfectly willing to sacrifice myself if it meant she was returned safely. I never reckoned myself to be of a very valiant character; but let me at least declare this to be my one selfless moment; for my only object was to save my sister. I thought not of gratifying myself in the eyes of my parents or other siblings; nor even did I want to inspire the hatred of the Spearow.

I had run in this blind way, till I knew not when; but when I at last stopped to take a breath, panting loudly as my tongue listlessly slid past my prominent incisors and hung from my mouth, the scene before me was one completely foreign. I was in the middle of a deep forest, with only faint glimmers of moonlight filtering in through the tall, broad trees; in short, I knew not where I was, or where I had come from. I was completely and utterly lost, though I was too tired to recognize it at the time; and, exhausted, I slumped against a gnarly elm tree, and slipped back into that deep sleep I had been so rudely awakened from.

----

Now you must allow me to skip over a period of several years, and be satisfied with the following summary of what happened in between. I wakened from my slumber beneath the elm tree when day had well begun, and after being utterly confused for several moments as to my location, recollected what had gone on the previous night; and then, now at leisure to study my surroundings with a soberer eye, knew myself to be lost. I continued on, however, not willing to vanquish my hope of saving poor Annabelle. It was only several days later that I accepted and acknowledged I would probably be estranged from my family forever; but I would never even think about giving up my quest. If I gave that up—well, the thought of all of my hardships suffered in vain was too terrible to fathom!

So at the period of time I now allude to, I was very much a rogue; traversing the country, with no real goal, though I told myself and everybody I met I was looking for my lost sister. I hardened after a time; no longer shocked by the despicable behavior of some Pokémon, no longer frightened by rustles in the bushes or cries of the birds at night. I grew used to humans, for I was more than once obliged to scour through dumpsters and trash bins in cities for food (I could sustain myself perfectly well in a fine field or forest, mind you; but as cities can be terribly complicated, there is no fresh vegetation waiting _there_ when you get lost). I was kind to those humans who helped me (there was once a young boy who fed me the berries he had been picking that day; and I am still grateful for it), though I had no sympathy for those who weren't. I could not number the foolish twerps who thought it fit to try to enslave me; I already had a master, and its name was Duty. It was my duty to at least learn of what had become of Annabelle, if I could no longer save her; to at least have all of my travels amount to _something_.

I was wandering through the outskirts of Celadon City one day, where the humans' houses were mainly tidy little gated communities; but I had no taste for those. I had been fasting for longer than I liked, and was subsequently trudging along the path very slowly; nibbling on grass as I went, but with the much more exciting prospect of a berry-tree up ahead, with its fruit nestled among its glossy leaves, and a small heap of the ripe berries piled in its shade.

After another agonizing twenty steps, I had reached my goal; and I hungrily swallowed the berries; though as I consumed each one, it seemed my hunger only grew. At length, however, I was satiated; and, now feeling a bit drowsy, I crawled between the two most prominent roots of the tree, and rested my cheek on one while my tail lay across the other. For several moments I just observed and appreciated nature, for I had not seen it in its full glory for many a time; and with the occasional wispy cloud floating across the cerulean sky, and green rolling hills as far as the eye could see, I thought myself very fortunate at that moment indeed. With the stalks of tall grass next to me, I began to feel nostalgic for my meadow; and I sighed as I thought of it, and all of its occupants, which I had foolishly left behind.

"But it was not foolish," I reassured myself, as I always did when I grew doubtful of my cause; "I shall save Annabelle at last; and what a happy reunion it shall be when we return to our meadow together!" I did not, at this time, account for how I was going to be able to return with Anna, when I was quite unable to return without her; nor did I see my folly in promoting such vain wishes. But alas! I was still foolish then; and perhaps I still am to a degree now.

As I indulged in a reverie of that kind, I was suddenly startled by an ear-piercing shriek; the likes of which can only be produced by a human child. I languidly lifted my eyes to the intruder, to see not one, but two humans fast approaching; undoubtedly coming for the berries. One was a young girl, with her chestnut locks flowing down her round, plump cheek, with a yellow hair band in her hair; and next to her was a boy, slightly older; he was thin and lanky, very unlike his companion in build; but still they were strikingly similar. They both had the same wild auburn hair, and pallid complexion; and there was something about the nose and eyes which resembled the other.

"Probably come from the housing community," I thought with a glance in the direction of the nearest gated community; and then I rose to my feet, and walked off slowly, deciding these two characters I would much rather leave to enjoy their berries unaccompanied.

However, before I had taken two steps, I observed the boy whisper something into his sister's ear; and she, her beady little eyes lighting up with bliss, clapped her hands together and cried in a voice which assured me she was the one who had screeched so unbecomingly before:

"Oh, please, Kenny! Do, do, do! I want it, I want it!"

Kenny smiled in a conniving sort-of way, undoubtedly pleased to be procuring his spoiled sister whatever indulgence he had offered her. With one swift motion, he grabbed one of those wretched red-and-white Pokéballs from his belt, and with a flick of his wrist, had materialize before him a rascally-looking Quilava.

Being twice my height, it did look rather daunting as it approached me, flames licking at its head and lower back, and all the while with that odd glint in its ruby-colored eye which I did not trust; and it was then that I realized that _I_ was to be Kenny's gift to his little bratty sister. I scoffed at the idea, and flicked my tail in irritation, at the thought that I could possibly ever follow anything other than my own agenda.

"You dare to laugh at me?" warned my adversary. I blinked at the Quilava amusedly; it was clearly trying to sound threatening, but it only ended up sounding rehearsed and clichéd. I rolled my eyes at its stupidity, and coolly replied:

"No. I never laugh at anything, except the folly of humans."

"I can't stand Pokémon who insult my master and his kin," was the contemptuous reply I received.

"And I can't stand Pokémon who are mindless drones; doing only what their masters tell them to, and never bothering to have a thought of their own." I flashed my teeth threateningly, whereas the pitiable Quilava merely growled and dug its paws into the soft earth beneath it. I was no longer amused; my temper was excited by the Pokémon's careless taunts; I planned to teach it a lesson it would not forget.

A bit in the distance, Kenny yelled some command (inaudible to me, with the blood rushing in my ears) which his slave accordingly followed. It pounced up on a little boulder nearby, even though it already had the advantage over me in height; then spewing hot embers from his mouth, in a feeble attempt to injure me. I easily dodged it, and leapt up at its perch, giving it a vicious head-butt it so that it lost its footing and fell with a soft thump on the moss beneath.

The Quilava, its fall having been unfortunately broken by the moss, recovered quickly, and after a few more demands from the contemptible Kenny, my opponent filled the air with thick, black smoke; I, coughing and shutting my stinging eyes as I crouched behind the boulder, in hopes that it would clear away sooner than it did. But as I was thus occupied, the bright red and orange flames that I had before so easily avoided now hit me full on. I rolled out of the way as quickly as I could, till its embers no longer singed my fur and skin.

By this time my adversary's smokescreen was pretty much cleared away, with only a thin gray vapor remaining; and, though I floundered as I ran, I pounced upon the Quilava and dug my teeth deep into one of its hind legs, crimson blood now flowing freely from the wound I had created. However, you will recall I was rather small in comparison, so the Quilava shook me off pretty easily as it wailed in pain.

I slammed against the aforementioned boulder hard as my foe hurled me against it, with newfound pain in my spine tingling up and down my back; and I let out an involuntary cry of anguish as I made contact with the hard surface, and then collapsed on the ground, reduced to a trembling amethyst heap.

I took a few moments to collect myself, determined to press on in spite of the aching that coursed through my every limb; but, before I was able to do this, a wave of excruciating pain tore through every fiber of my being; a hurt that I had never before experienced, and which was so great that after a few seconds of helpless trashing, I fell unconscious.

When I awoke, I was thankfully free of pain; but it seemed that I had no feeling at all, as I did what I thought was opening my eyes, only to see empty, endless blackness. I had seen many dark nights, but that was nothing like this; _this_ was pure nothingness. I felt nothing beneath my feet—I didn't even _feel_ my feet—it was just… nothing. It was like my entire being was only a thought. But what had happened to me?—had the humans…

No, no, that could not be. I still had to save Annabelle. I _was_ going to do it. But I couldn't move, breathe, speak! All of my efforts to do so were in vain! The only thing I could distinguish other than my own thoughts was a terrible, endless echo that surrounded me. I tried for what felt like hours to discriminate any word or phrase from amongst the jumbled mess of noise; and then: my obstinate will faltered and finally shattered into a thousand figurative shards when I at last comprehended the following words, spoken in a shrill, loud voice:

"I got Rattata!"

Sometimes I wonder what my life may have been like if I had never left my meadow.


End file.
